So the crazy upper Cut-Off Low pattern that is developing Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday is driving me crazy.

As you know Cut-Off Lows are very unpredictable. But the one thing you can normally predict is their approaching Northern California from the WEST and their creating SW winds just aloft.

But this Cut-Off Low seems determined to approach us from the NORTH which would the Bay Area on west side of its counter-clockwise spinning winds so we would have NORTH winds aloft.

Since the Cut-Off Low will make a deep low pressure in the Great Basin and there will be strong NW wind out at the ocean buoys we have strong WSW to WNW surface wind potential from the coast to Sherman Island.

HOWEVER make a mental picture of those N. winds aloft and you will see that they are likely to make the surface winds everywhere GUSTY, SHIFTY and may cause problems with the wind filling in at Waddell, Tomales and Bodega.

This amazing Bay Area project, which was just bought by Google, was spearheaded by brilliant engineer and kitesurfer Corwin Hardham from the Gorge. He was the Co-Founder and CEO of Makani Power. He died unexpectedly but peacefully on October 23rd, 2012. He was 38 years old.

The Makani project continues and has great potential since compared to regular turbines:

1. It uses only 10% of the structural materials.
2. It uses the stronger winds aloft so it is more efficient.
3. It is free of all the turbulence from nearby turbines, hills, buildings etc.
4. It does not create as much noise or visual impact
5. It does not have to be placed in natural high wind zones where migratory birds concentrate.
6. It does not require the renting of huge tracts of land.

What a great project to be involved with. I went through the entire website--it is fascinating. Can you comment about the availability of wind in the operation range (which appears to start at 10 m/s or 22 mph)?

I'm sure that safety has been a big concern for all involved. What are some of the more subtle issues--beyond losing flight control or becoming untethered?

My understanding is that turbines briefly act as motors during take off from the launch truck and the climb to the windy cruising altitude. Then the aircraft switches to turbine mode and generates electricity which is feed back down the tether and ultimately the grid.

Yes prototypes have been flown in the Sherman Island area. My only role is forecasting the wind ranges at aircraft launch sites so I am not privy to technical details beyond what is on the web site. Check the URL above for more information.

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